First time buyers swap smokey lungs for property rungs

Abbey Mortgages believes Britain’s public smoking ban could inadvertently help thousands of first time buyers get a foot on the property ladder.

The statement comes after research from Abbey found that 43% of potential first time buyers would be prepared to give up their nicotine fix to get a foot on to the first rung. And Abbey is sure that the public smoking ban could give them just the kick they need.

Abbey has calculated that the average smoker can save some £1288per year by quitting cigarettes - meaning a smoking couple could find themselves with a nest egg of £2576 to put towards their first home by this time next year. A useful sum considering, according to Abbey research, it costs the average first time buyer £5280 to move into their new home.

Smokers trying to get on the housing ladder might also find it incentivising to learn that they have to work for nearly half an hour (23 minutes) before they can afford a packet of cigarettes. Interestingly the same amount of time would also buy about 25 house bricks. What’s more, by giving up smoking for 1706 days you’d have saved enough money to buy around 3,000 bricks - enough bricks to build you own starter home!

Nici Audhlam-Gardiner, Head of Mortgages at Abbey, said: “With the smoking ban here to stay it really is the ideal opportunity to save up some hard cash for a first home. So, it’s time for all those first time buyers that told us they’d quit cigarettes to get on the housing ladder, to put their money where their mouth, or should I say their cigarette, is.”

Abbey offers First Time Buyers products that can help them save upfront costs and lower their monthly payments. This includes a 100% LTV mortgage, or our no-deposit mortgage deals that offer five per cent money back, which can then help towards covering additional costs such as stamp duty, and mortgages where customers can defer part of the amount they borrow until the end of the mortgage, or even extend the length of their mortgage.